Saturday, September 8, 2012

According to Woodland police Sgt. Brett
Hancock, Woodland resident Steven Ray James, 57, had gone to another
residence on Johnston Street near Depot Street and fired a number of
shots into a residence and a Chevrolet. No one was hurt.

Upon
further investigation, it was learned the shooting occurred as a result
of an ongoing civil dispute over the Chevrolet, Hancock said.

James was later transported and booked
at the Yolo County Jail for the felony discharge of a firearm from a
vehicle, the felony discharge of a firearm at an inhabited dwelling and
for driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Simply put, this is yet another so-called lawful gun owner who showed his true colors. A guy like this, before being caught acting out, could best be called a "hidden criminal." Gun owners who drink too much, who settle disputes with guns, cannot rightly be called law-abiding even if they'd not yet been convicted of anything.

The gun-rights folks want us to maintain an attitude of "innocent until proven guilty," which is fair enough. But they should not insist that all who have not yet been proven guilty are truly innocent. That's why we have that middle category called "hidden criminals."

Next comes the question of how big is this category. When forced to admit its existence, the next ploy used by the pro-gun crowd is to minimize the numbers. Insignificant, they say, negligible even.

A Bronx bodega worker was accidentally shot and
killed by a police officer responding to an armed robbery inside the
store early Friday morning, according to law enforcement officials.

Police say a gunman wearing a ski
mask and two other men entered the bodega at 631 East 169th Street at 2
a.m. Friday and ordered the store's night manager and another employee
to lie on the floor. The gunman also struck the night manager in the
back of the head. The gun was not loaded, police said.

A passerby who witnessed the robbery
in progress called 911. As police arrived, two of the suspects fled to
the back of the store and basement. At that point, Felix Mora, the night
manager, and Reynaldo Cuevas, the other employee, ran out of the store

19-year-old Cuevas followed Mora and
was accidentally shot dead by an officer as he exited the store. In
surveillance footage shared by police at a press conference Friday
afternoon, Cuevas is seen colliding with the officer as he runs out of
the store.

The New York Police are having a bad couple of weeks. I can't help but thinking inadequate training is at fault. The possibility of accidentally shooting someone, whether it's collateral damage like at the Empire State Bldg. or shooting someone who suddenly runs into you, could be greatly diminished with more frequent training. This should be expected of gun owners.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Matthew L. Renzullo was charged with illegal discharge of a
firearm, second-degree breach of peace, carrying a dangerous weapon,
conspiracy to commit first-degree reckless endangerment and
second-degree false statement after allegedly lying to Torrington Police
about his involvement with firing a gun early Thursday morning.

Renzullo,
23, told police he had met up with his friend, the two men started drinking and
playing cards. Renzullo’s accomplice, later identified as 23-year-old
Roger Hunt of Douglas, Mass., reportedly had a 9 mm Ruger pistol in his
apartment, which he told police seemed enticing to Renzullo.

The
two men walked outside the apartment and down the street, where Renzullo
looked at Hunt and said, “What do you think of this n---er?”, then
fired off “four or five rounds,” according to police. According to Hunt, he and Renzullo — both
white males — devised a plan that “if the cops showed up, we’d blame it
on two Puerto Ricans.”

Renzullo told police he wouldn’t have fired the weapon if he hadn’t been drinking.

Police
charged Hunt, who lied to authorities about his identity, with carrying
a firearm while intoxicated, conspiracy to commit first-degree reckless
endangerment and conspiracy to commit unlawful discharge of a firearm.

You know, to hear the gun-rights folks tell it, you'd think that racism was a thing of the past.They never tire of insisting that they and their gun owning friends are not racists. Everyone knows that's just not true, as this story illustrates.

Another thing they insist upon is that guys who drink too much and do stupid shit with guns are so rare that we could just write them off as anomalies. That's another misrepresentation which this story highlights.

Gun owners are just like everybody else. They suffer from all the ills that people in general suffer from. That's why we need stricter gun control laws. That's why it's a mistake to treat gun ownership like a right that everyone is entitled to.

People should have to be highly qualified to own guns. Infractions should be treated very seriously.

You didn’t hear the word “guns” voluntarily pass the lips of any
Democratic speaker at this week’s convention in Charlotte, N.C. Liberals
may be smart enough to avoid alienating the almost half of all
Americans who have guns in their homes, but the same can’t be said for
their party platform.

The Democratic policy statement approved
this week calls for enacting “common-sense improvements — like
reinstating the assault-weapons ban and closing the gun-show loophole.”
The so-called “assault-weapons ban” in the 1990s banned scary-looking
guns and magazines that held over 10 rounds. The platform does toss in a
line that claims to recognize the right to bear arms, but it is
“subject to reasonable regulation.” The left wants “an honest, open
national conversation about firearms.”

I asked many Democratic
leaders about the party’s position on firearms at the convention, but
almost all claimed not to have read that section of the platform. Jesse Jackson was one of the few willing to come out and say he wants to ban all guns except bolt-action rifles, shotguns and revolvers.

“You
have the right to have a gun in your castle to protect your house. You
have the right to have a gun to hunt,” the reverend said in an interview
in Charlotte. “Semi-automatic weapons — military-style weapons — are
beyond the zone of reasonableness.” The civil-rights leader asserted,
“These mass killings in Aurora and Milwaukee … we must end easy access
and ban these assault weapons.” He added, “Twenty-five percent of all
police are killed by assault weapons, and they cannot defend themselves
from that.”

Her claim that, since the Democrats are not saying a thing about gun control, there's trouble brewing is right out of the Wayne La Pierre play book. It's contrived nonsense for the express purpose of driving gun sales and resisting gun control initiatives.

And it's working. Many gun owners are susceptible to this transparent manipulation. They're buying more and more guns and ammunition. The gun-rights fanatics are extremely vocal and well-financed.

Honesty and truthfulness is not required when one is defending the sacred 2nd Amendment. Take this example, her explanation why the word "guns" is not even mentioned by Democrats.

"Liberals
may be smart enough to avoid alienating the almost half of all
Americans who have guns in their homes,..."

The fact is, the "almost half" of Americans who have guns in their home includes many who are in agreement with the gun control side. Many more are apathetic and couldn't care less.

To claim allegiance from every person who owns a gun is misleading to put it mildly. I'd say it goes far beyond that into the realm of blatant dishonesty. But, it's what we've come to expect from gun-rights advocates, isn't it?

There are a lot of small-time losers out there who own guns legally even though they have pages of arrests. That's why we need stricter gun control laws, higher standards for who may own guns including a "may-issue" policy for gun ownership.

Guys like Daniel Guggan, who may still qualify for gun ownership under the current lax system, would be disarmed and everyone would benefit.

A 13-year-old girl was charged with aggravated child abuse and
grand theft in the accidental shooting last month of a Clearwater
teenager.

Clearwater police say Taylor Alexa Compton and other juveniles, who
were playing with a gun they had stolen, did not know it was loaded when
she intended to scare Ryan Greenlee but shot him accidentally on Aug.
2.

The Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun had been stolen from an unlocked
vehicle in the 1200 block of Highland Avenue, police said. Detectives
said Compton and Justin Tyler Hemphill, 15, were responsible for the
armed vehicle burglary as well as other vehicle burglaries.

Compton and Hemphill are charged with armed burglary (vehicle), grand
theft of a firearm and dealing in stolen property - all felonies.

Police said the adults in the home had no knowledge of the gun or involvement in the shooting.

I have a few problems with this story.

1. Aggravated child abuse is the wrong charge when one child harms another. A conviction on a charge like that carries an unfair stigma.

2. Armed vehicle burglary is misleading when applied to taking something out of an unlocked car.

3. The irresponsible gun owner who made the theft of the gun so easy by not even locking the care should be charged with reckless endangerment or failure to safely store a firearm or something.

4. The adults in the home who had no knowledge of what was going on should be charged with negligence. Parental supervision is essential.

An
Oregon man has been charged with killing his mother-in-law's
19-year-old husband and 70-year-old ex-husband during a family trip to
the coast, the authorities said.

Timothy Henson
then kidnapped his wife and mother-and-law before officers discovered
them off a spur road a few miles from the scene of the double homicide,
said R. Paul Frasier, the Coos County district attorney.

Henson
allegedly fired one-to-three shots inside the vehicle, with a bullet
hitting his wife, 30-year-old Vallena Tuell, in the forearm. The car
came to a stop and Henson shot George Micheaux III, 19, and Milton Chester Leach, 70, outside the vehicle, Frasier said.

The
family lived together in Myrtle Creek, about 90 miles east of the crime
scene. Henson and his wife lived in the house, the Micheauxs have a
trailer on the property and Leach, the ex-husband of Ruth Sherrie Micheaux, stayed in the garage.

Another lawful gun owner who turns out to be a dangerous and irresponsible person.

A man shot and killed himself early Wednesday during what police suspect may have been a game of Russian roulette.

The man, who was not identified pending notification of next of
kin,, died shortly after 7 a.m. at Loma Linda University Medical Center,
said San Bernardino police Lt. Paul Williams.

"Right now it's an accidental death," Williams said.

Detectives are investigating the possibility that the victim
and at least one other person were playing Russian roulette with a
loaded revolver. It is unknown how many times the gun was passed around
before the round was fired, Williams said.

Police recovered the gun at the scene.

Well, here's two or three more lawful gun owners who have proven to be unfit to own guns. One is dead, but the others will just go one with their reckless behavior until someone else gets killed.

I'm making an assumption that the guys who play Russian roulette are drinking and doing other irresponsible behavior that makes them a danger to themselves and others.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Virginia is issuing a rising number of concealed-carry gun permits to
people who live in other states in a trend that may be helped along by
online gun classes.

The commercial courses allow applicants to seek a permit from
Virginia that is valid in their state, but without having to meet
tougher requirements their home states may impose, such as firing a gun
with an instructor.

Virginia State Police issued 1,632 concealed-carry permits to
nonresidents through the first half of 2012, topping the previous year's
total of 1,321 nonresident permits. There was no corresponding increase
in demand for resident permits, with just under half the previous
year's number reached by mid-2012.

Their home states may impose more stringent requirements, he tells
prospects, but they can get a Virginia permit simply by paying $39.99,
reading five chapters about firearms and correctly answering 15 of 20
true-or-false questions on a quiz. The customer receives a certificate
to be mailed along with other application materials to the Virginia
State Police. After passing a criminal background check, the applicant
receives a permit to carry a concealed weapon in his or her home state
and 26 others that have reciprocity agreements with Virginia.

Is that the funniest thing you're ever heard, or what? These responsible citizens can get the concealed carry permit they've always wanted "without having to meet tougher requirements their home states may impose, such as firing a gun with an instructor."

These gun-rights fanatics are more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

To me, this type of reciprocity is a disgraceful abuse of the system. It should be stopped immediately.

This may be the greatest political speech I've ever heard - the poise and sincerity, the substantive issues mentioned, her smile, the delivery. Before I predicted that Obama would win by a landslide against Romney, now I'm adding something else: Michelle Obama in 2016.

Guns As Toys

Whether
or not you think toy guns are a good idea, they are here to stay and
they are a very big part of the marketed entertainment industry, from
cap guns with cowboy hats to first person shooter video games. Guns
are sold to our kids as fun and not deadly in the virtual world, this
can make it harder for kids to understand the mortal gravity of real
guns in the real world.

Let’s face it, guns are attractive to lots of children.

Watch
a group of children playing and it’s likely that some of them will be
playing a hunting or war game before it’s over. Toy guns have long been
favourites with my boys and instead of banning them completely, we’ve
taken the toy versions as an opportunity to discuss the moral
implications of the real thing and to teach basic gun safety.

I
would much rather control the environment in which my children
encounter and practice with toy guns than ban them altogether and have
them unprepared when they are faced with the real thing.

Toy guns can provide many teachable moments.

The pro-gun mom goes on to explain how we can easily move from "guns as toys" to "guns as tools," and from there it's a cinch to teach kids the Eddie Eagle rules.

Here's what I had to say:

You must be out of your mind if you think guns are OK as toys and
provide teachable moments AND that you can teach kids the Eddie Eagle
rules.

Haven’t you seen it in your own kids that the natural curiosity and
resistance to obedience is too much for all that “teaching” nonsense.

There’s only one thing that keeps kids safe and that’s parental
supervision. You don’t seem to have the appropriate emphasis on that.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Firearms. We recognize that the individual right to
bear arms is an important part of the American tradition, and we will
preserve Americans’ Second Amendment right to own and use firearms. We
believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable
regulation. We understand the terrible consequences of gun violence; it
serves as a reminder that life is fragile, and our time here is limited
and precious. We believe in an honest, open national conversation about
firearms. We can focus on effective enforcement of existing laws,
especially strengthening our background check system, and we can work
together to enact commonsense improvements – like reinstating the
assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole – so that guns do
not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few.

The real problem with this very popular pro-gun lie is that it seeks to connect the worst incidents of gun violence with gun-free places, the implication being that rageful mass killers seek out these places for their target-rich environment. In many cases it's more than implied. Gun-rights fanatics often claim outright that this is what happens. Their intention is to eliminate gun restrictions wherever possible.

The fact is, when a person decides to go on a shooting rampage, he goes to the place of his grievance. Sometimes this happens to be a gun-free zone, as in the case of school shooters, but more often than not, it's someone's workplace, or the local mall, or a residence. It has nothing to do with the status of gun availability. In fact many of these deranged people are on suicide missions so why would they care if there'd be resistance?

mass shooting (n.):a number of shootings, typically four or more, that occur during the same incident with no distinctive time lapse between them.
Defining violent crimes is a grisly job, but academics and law
enforcement officials have to do it. The qualifier of four shootings
correlates to the FBI’s working definition of “mass murder,” which has
historically used the same threshold.

So, whenever we hear the pro-gun crowd claim that mass shootings usually, or always, happen in gun-free zones, it's a double lie. The claim itself is untrue and its implication is also untrue.

The incident relates to a quadruple shooting
that happened around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning on Inverness on the
city's west side. Two men were killed and two others were injured.

Police say that at around
3:20 a.m. Saturday a 36-year-old man went to a Detroit Fire Engine
Station near the scene of the shootings. He reportedly told the fire
fighters that he was connected to the shootings.

However, when
Detroit Police were called, they said the patrol units for the area were
busy handling high priority runs and no one was dispatched to the fire
house.

Firefighters say they kept the man at the fire station for
almost four hours waiting for a police patrol car to pick him up.
Eventually they put the suspect in a taxi and sent him to the 10th
Precinct where he was taken into custody.

The poor Detroit cops are really being ridiculed for this one. But, it seems to me the obvious explanation is that the shooter only told the firemen he was "involved" in the shooting, like a witness maybe, not that he was the author of it.

In any case, people love to blame the cops whenever possible. And goodness knows they deserve it many times, but not in this case.

The family of a man who is still recovering from a gunshot wound to the
face is outraged that the person charged in the shooting may have his
case dismissed.

Denver Rearick, 28, is accused of first-degree assault after Matthew C.
Richie was shot Jan. 22, 2011, at a Waco Loop home. Police initially
ruled the shooting accidental, but Rearick was indicted by a grand jury
in August 2011.

First-degree assault is a Class B felony that carries a penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison.

Rearick’s attorney, Michael Eubanks, filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss
the case citing the “negligent manner” with which Kentucky State Police
have handled key evidence. A KSP trooper testified earlier this summer
that he has not been able to find taped statements made by both Rearick
and Richie after the shooting. It is also unclear from police records if
a gunshot residue test was performed even though a trooper had
requested it, testimony revealed.

Because of the bumbling police investigatgion, this guy may walk away from what was at least an unacceptable negligence in gun handling, maybe something worse.

What's your opinion? Maybe the cops should be charged with negligence, huh?

On Saturday at about 5:30 p.m., the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's
office requested the Tuscaloosa County Homicide Unit to respond to 11000
block of Cochran Road, in Woodstock because a man had been shot in the
head.

The victim, a 56-year-old man, was transported to UAB by
ambulance with life-threatening injuries. Witnesses at the scene said
the man was playing with a small pistol he recently purchased and the
gun went off, shooting him in the head. The shot appeared to have been
an accidental discharge.

These "accidents," which are much more frequent than the pro-gun crowd would have us believe, could largely be prevented if stricter gun control laws were in effect. When anybody, anywhere can get a gun legally, with little or no training and little or no qualifications, gun mishaps are more likely.

Their MP,Alan Duncan, said: "If this is a straightforward case of someone using a shotgun to defend themselves against burglars in the dead of night, then I would hope that the police will prosecute the burglars and not my constituents...The householder is the victim here and justice should support them and prosecute the burglars."

Gun enthusiasts of the early 20th century riddled the La Crosse River
marsh with lead. And decades after the last trap shoot, traces of the
toxic metal remain.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
researchers have found high lead levels in the sediment where La Crosse
Gun Club members frequently shot skeet.

New samples taken this summer will help determine if lead is spreading from the marsh bed and threatening surrounding wildlife. Lead
can be absorbed by nearby vegetation and travel up the food chain,
causing neurological and developmental problems in fish.

Whether it's a meter down in the muck or on the surface of the marsh bed, the lead is there, UW-L researchers say. Hundreds of sediment samples taken last year show varying degrees of lead contamination throughout the marsh. Belby declined to provide the exact numbers, but initial tests last year revealed levels of up to 1,200 parts per million - the maximum amount allowed in bare soil, and three times the legal limit for soil in areas with playing children.

What's your opinion? The gun-rights fanatics will always downplay the importance of this and the possible consequences of lead contamination. Some of them deny it outright.

Richard A. Paddon Jr. was found not guilty
of third-degree assault. Another charge, third-degree reckless
endangerment, was dropped by County Judge Richard C. Giardino.

Paddon
was indicted by a grand jury in April on charges that he accidentally
shot Dale S. Gray Jr. while hunting wild turkey in an open field at 162
Hill Road in Ephratah on May 14, 2011.

Police said Paddon fired a 12-gauge shotgun and struck Gray in the back and head.

"The
jury did a good job looking at the evidence,"? Horan said today. "At the
end, they agreed it was an accident - it certainly was an unfortunate
incident."

Hunters especially should be aware of the 4 Rules of Gun Safety. In order to accomplish a stunt like this, at least two of the Rules had to be violated. How in the world a jury could exonerate someone for this is beyond me.

Negligence with guns is not taken seriously enough. It should not be excused by simply calling it an "accident."

A 10-year-old girl was transported by helicopter to a Grand Rapids
hospital after she was shot in the head by a high-powered air pellet
rifle about 3 p.m. Saturday while camping with family on an island in
the Pere Marquette River in Custer Township.

The girl, a Grand Rapids resident, was reportedly in critical condition
following her airlift, according to the Mason County Press. Mason
County Sheriff Jeff Fiers said the shooting appeared to have been
accidental and was caused when a family member accidentally discharged
the weapon, according to reports.

What's your opinion? Does it make a difference that this was a toy gun? Should it?

As far as the parents being held responsible for accidents like this, too often that doesn't happen. It was only an accident, after all. It wasn't a real gun anyway. In this case there was not mention of there being any investigation at all. That's a disgrace.

The incident happened on the evening of
August 30 in Meade County. According to the sheriff, a 2012 North Hardin
High School graduate, Shelby Langley, and his friend Louis Dercqu, 18,
were hanging weapons on a wall for display in Langley's home in
Rineyville when Dercqu accidentally discharged a 22 caliber rifle,
shooting Langley in the head.

Langley died Saturday, September 1 at University Hospital.

The sheriff said the two were very good
friends and that the case is being investigated as an accidental
shooting with a possible charge of first degree assault if the state
seeks an indictment.

The case will be presented to the Commonwealth's Attorney's office this week for a determination on how the state will proceed.

Officials said gunshots rang out at a Sweet 16 birthday party after 11 p.m. in the 100 block of East 13th Street.

One victim was pronounced dead at the scene and the second died at a hospital, WPBF reported.

"A
lot of people screaming ... A lot of kids were standing around. There
were kids on the floor, some saying they didn't do anything, saying they
were just in their car with some of their friends."

If it's gang related, can it still count as a mass shooting? This is definitely one in which the shooter was not concerned with the gun-free-zone status of the location but only with his grievance.

That's usually the case.

Why do the pro-gun folks keep trying to blame the gun free zone? Sometimes they actually say mass shootings ONLY happen at gun free zones, the implication being that shooters choose them for the target-rich environment.

Nonsense. Mass shooters do not choose their location based on anything but their anger and rage. Sometimes it's a school that happens to be a gun free zone, other times it's a sweet sixteen party that is not.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

In the six-day period from Aug. 10 to Aug. 16, the Transportation
Safety Administration seized 30 firearms at airports nationwide,
including a loaded .22-caliber handgun in Newport News.

And it
wasn't the only one found this year at Newport News-Williamsburg
International Airport or at Norfolk International Airport.

In
response to a Daily Press inquiry, the Department of Homeland Security,
which includes the TSA, provided data that shows eight handguns were
seized at Hampton Roads' two commercial airports since January.

Naturally the pro-gun crowd, which strives to excuse anything and everything to do with gun misbehavior, will argue that compared to the number of passsngers, this is nothing. But I disagree. This is something, and it's something that's difficult to understand.

I'm assuming that given the level of intelligence and perspicacity of most TSA agents, this is not the complete extent of the problem. But the real question for me is "why?" Why are people bringing guns to the airport in the high or possible likelihood that they'll be caught doing so?

Forgetfulness seems to be the favorite explanation. I can't think of a better one, can you?

Does that kind of forgetfulness when it comes to the location of your gun sound like responsible behavior? No. Obviously not, which means that in addition to all the idiots who let their kids find their guns, and all the ones who accidentally shoot their friends and themselves, and all the ones who drop their guns from time to time, you've got another group who frequently have no idea where their gun is.

All these people are so-called legitimate gun owners. Many of them continue to be considered that even after their incident. This is wrong. And this proves that the notion, very popular among gun owners, that the problem is the criminals and not them, is bogus.

Michael Millazzo, 53,
was taken into custody after cops broke down his door at 6:30 a.m. They
initially were called to the address on Sunday over reports that someone
was firing shots into the air.

In the stockpile, cops found 10,537 rounds of ammo, a 9mm firearm,
six high-capacity rifle magazines, a .40-caliber Glock, 60 knives, 16
air pistols and seven tasers.

Millazzo was slapped with weapons and reckless-endangerment charges.

He had been arrested in 2004 on weapons charges after cops found him in possession of five rifles and one handgun.

Neighbors hailed the bust. “We
are all paranoid that one day he was going to snap and kill us all,”
one said. “We got lots of kids here. The entire community is worried
about their kids. A lot of people complained.”

Is there any question that the folks of Astoria Queens are better off now? In New York, if you want to own guns you need to have a good reason to do so. Unlike other states, this kind of sick obsession for hoarding guns is not tolerated.

Edward
Borra, owner of Ed's Firearms on 429 Mountain Ave. in Berthoud, was
indicted on Aug. 20 and arraigned in U.S. District Court in Denver on
Monday. He was charged with nine counts of supplying a firearm to a
felon and three counts of receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm.

The
indictment alleges that Borra knowingly sold and disposed of firearms
and ammunition to people convicted in a court of crime punishable by
imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. Nine occasions stemming from
May 21 through Aug.10 were detailed in the court documents.

The
indictment also alleges that Borra was in possession of a multitude of
shotguns that were not registered to him in the National Firearms
Registration and Transfer Record.

Ed's Firearms was closed on
Friday, with merchandise cleared out of the store.

The terribly under-resourced and under-staffed ATF makes these occasional busts, imagine what's out there. Imagine what they don't have the manpower to uncover.

What do you make of those shotguns? Does that mean he received them from some other source than a bona fide gun manufacturer? What could that be?

What do you think would motivate a licensed FFL guy to sell guns to convicted felons? Surely there's enough business out there among the legitimate buyers. What do you think?

Hattiesburg Police Department spokesman Lt. Jon Traxler said a
Thursday night shooting started with an argument between three men and
ended in a shootout in the parking lot.

The three shooters
fired at each other multiple times, striking only a female bystander's
hand, producing minor injuries, Traxler said. He said the bullet only
"grazed" the woman's hand.

Police
responded to the scene at about 8:20 p.m. and charged Earene Williams,
25; Joshua Hilliard, 23; and Gary Underwood, 23; with aggravated
assault. Each is held in the Forrest County Jail on a $25,000 bond per
charge.

Williams also is charged with possession of a firearm after felony conviction, for which he is also held on a $25,000 bond.

Now let's see what we can understand from this story without reading too much into it.

1. Only one of the shooters was charged with being a felon in possession of a gun. That means the other two were lawful gun owners up until the incident. That means that some unspecified percentage of so-called gun owners are really dangerous characters like these guys - let's call them hidden criminals.

2. Three out of three, or 100% of the shooters were such poor shots that they missed their targets entirely. I'm not gonna say from close range because that was not mentioned in the article. What the article does say is they did hit at least one innocent person in the process, luckily not seriously. That means that when gun owners use their guns for legitimate or illegitimate purposes, a certain unspecified percentage of the bullets hit the wrong targets.

What's your opinion? Are they fair conclusions to be drawn from the story? Is there anything else?

The .25-caliber bullet struck Morales-Santos in the chin, turned
downward and traveled through his throat and into his chest but did not
hit any vital organs, Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Ronald
Jordan said. Morales-Santos was expected to recover.

“He and two other friends were in a field shooting guns,” Jordan said.
“One had fired a full clip and thought the gun was empty and was waving
it around. Apparently Fidel Cruz accidentally discharged the gun and
struck Eduardo in the chin.”

Although Cruz had taken the clip out of the pistol, apparently a bullet was chambered and had not been fired.

Cruz, who went to the hospital with Morales-Santos, fled when he saw
police cars arrive there, Jordan said. Because the stories of the
witness and Morales-Santos match, the sheriff’s office does not plan to
file charges.

Even though he fled, the police still determined that no charges should be filed. That's how much they love their guns in Georgia and cover for each other's blundering behavior.

It was only an accident, after all. Forgetting there's a round in the chamber, plus aiming the gun at someone, and pulling the trigger, that's all just one big accident. It could happen to anyone. Right?